Hong Kong-American singer Coco Leethe only Chinese artist to have performed at the Oscars ceremony, died on Wednesday in a Hong Kong hospital at 48 years because of the wounds he inflicted three days earlier in a attempt to take his own lifehis family reported. Lee’s sisters, Carol and Nancy, announced through publications on the social networks Instagram and Facebook that the interpreter suffered from depression for several yearstried to commit suicide last Sunday and had been in a coma ever since.

“It is with great sadness that we come to share the most devastating of news: Coco has suffered from depression for a few years but her condition has deteriorated drastically in recent months,” reads the publication, which adds that although the artist sought professional help and fought against the disease, “that inner demon got the best of her.” Lee’s family also highlighted the The singer’s “untiring” work to “open up new horizons for Chinese singers on the international music scene” and her effort to “shine for all Chinese people.”

Lee was the first Chinese artist to sign a worldwide contract with the giant Sony Music and also the first and so far only representative of her ethnic group to have performed at the Oscars ceremony, where in 2000 he sang the song ‘A Love Before Time’ belonging to the film ‘Tiger and Dragon’, by Ang Lee. Coco Lee’s death has caused a shock in both Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan, where the networks were filled with comments from netizens expressing sadness for her and remembering her long and successful career.

The interpreter was born in Hong Kong in 1975, moved with his family to San Francisco (United States) at the age of nine and returned in 1993 to participate in a television talent contest in which he was a finalist, which earned him his first recording contract. She achieved her first regional success in 1994 with the Taiwanese release of a Chinese-language album called ‘Love From Now On’, and in 1999 she released her first English-language work, ‘Just No Other Way’.

Throughout her career Coco Lee, who also participated as an actress in three films, published more than fifteen records which sold tens of millions of copies and their single “Do You Want My Love” reached fourth place on the US Billboard chart in December 1999.

Among the artists who influenced her style, the singer mentioned Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Madonna and Mariah Carey, with some of whom she came to share the stage.